LG's V series began as a rugged, "manly" phone built for content creators. And while the line has moved away from the heavy duty masculine vibe in favor of a more mainstream look, it has not lost its video-centric creative roots.
This was why during my week of testing the LG V40 ThinQ, I was constantly reminded of my film buff roots and wanna-be filmmaker aspirations. The V40's camera app offers so many different video recording options, I found myself shooting random footage on the street just for the sake of it. After all, an LG V phone is the only mainstream phone series that offers manual video controls. It's the only phone that lets me shoot an Instagram Story with rack focusing, so why not take advantage of that?
Penta-lens shooter
The V40's video capabilities are part of its five-camera package, which includes a 12-megapixel main lens with f/1.5 aperture flanked by a wide-angle and telephoto lens on the back, and two selfie cameras offering a different field of vision. Unlike the Honor Magic 2, whose six cameras don't do enough to really justify their existence, each V40 lens has a clear use: a distinct focal length.
In addition to being able to shoot videos with more cinematography tricks than other phones, the V40 can also shoot arguably the smoothest 4K/60fps in Android. The iPhone -- in my opinion the best 4K recording phone -- is still king, with the most natural and balanced footage, but the V40's 4K/60 clips are less prone to micro-jitter and jerkiness as videos shot in the same settings by the Samsung Galaxy Note 9. The Google Pixel 3 and Huawei Mate 20 Pro can't even shoot 4K at 60fps.
Still photography is mostly good, but falls a bit short of the very best cameras. The Google Pixel 3 can capture HDR images that's less prone to over exposure, the Mate 20 Pro can capture better low light images with if I use Huawei's "Night Mode," and the iPhone XS is the king of finding balance in images, while the V40 tend to blow out the neon lights of Hong Kong unless I manually adjust exposure.
I'm nitpicking and hard to please, of course, because I have tested every new phone. For most people who don't handle 20 phones a year, they're going to use the V40's camera and see no fault with it. The V40's images are crisp, vibrant, and more than Instagram-ready. Plus, the V40 has more shooting options than most of the phones with its wide-angle lens, and the ability to capture cinemagraphs.
I covered the cinemagraphs feature in my hands-on, and while it clearly falls into the "gimmick" category in terms of features, I can't say I didn't have a lot of fun shooting videos that give off the illusion of a still image with slight movements. I've been posting them on Instagram and have been getting a lot of "whoa, how did you shoot this?" comments. And isn't this the point of taking photos in this social media age? To draw likes and generate interest? The video below show some sample cinemagraphs I captured.
A clean design that maybe plays it too safe
Looking at the rest of the V40, the phone is well designed and fits nicely in the hand. I particularly like the frosted coating of the glass back, which gives it more of a metallic look and feel, not to mention make it less prone to collect fingerprints. But between the notch and slight chin, and the unoriginal horizontal camera layout, the overall feel of the phone lacks excitement. The Huawei Mate 20 Pro, with its gradient colored back, unique 2X 2 square camera layout just looks more appealing to me. As I mentioned earlier, the V series began as a really out there, heavy-duty phone with steel railings and two screens. It was a different look from everything else out there on the market. The V40 is inoffensive and feels very comfortable to hold, but it looks like a dozen other handsets on the streets already.
The 6.4-inch OLED display, sourced from LG Displays, is excellent. Whatever nitpicks reviewers had with the V30's OLED panel have been addressed. The V40's screen is bright, vibrant, and has great viewing angles. And with a resolution of 1,440 x 3,120 (pixel-per-inch of 537), the screen here is technically the highest resolution panel in mainstream phones (not including Sony's 4K phone that wasn't widely released anyway). But I'm in the camp who doesn't think there's much difference between 1080p and Quad HD on a phone screen, so LG packing in a few more pixels than other Quad HD phones doesn't really bring any real world benefit in my opinion. This is LG, who pushed the Quad HD trend, by the way, showing its raw display prowess again.
The usual brains and guts
The V40 runs on Snapdragon 845 with 6GB of RAM. It's a more than powerful enough set-up. Huawei's Kirin 980 is a bit more powerful in running neural tasks, but the Snapdragon 845 still has a more advanced GPU. Gaming on the V40 is particularly enjoyable, because the V40 has the best haptic engine in Android, and the presence of a headphone jack.
For those who just want to use the V40's loud speakers, they are a mixed bag for me. On one hand the phone's speaker can get very loud, due to LG's "Boom Box" technology that uses empty space inside the phone as a resonance chamber. But the phone still only has mono-audio output, as sound only comes from the bottom speaker grille. Just about every flagship phone at least offers some sort of two-channel sound with the earpiece serving as a secondary speaker.
An Android skin that's actually helpful
The V40 runs Android 8.1 with LG's software on top, and though I dislike the blocky icons and odd app drawer that has horizontal swiping and still displays apps already on its homescreen, overall LG's Android skin is not bad. It's relatively minimal, and the additional features are very useful.
There is, for example, an optional shortcut button to pull down the notification shade that can be placed at the bottom of the screen. There's double tap to wake and lock the phone, an ingenious gesture LG invented that universally beloved software skins such as OnePlus' OxygenOS and Nova Launcher have copied. LG's Always-On Display is also the best in the business, as it shows not only time and date, but also all notifications and shortcut buttons to turn on the flashlight or camera direct from the lockscreen. Huawei phones, for example, has an Always-On Display too, but it only displays time and calendar and first-party notifications (which means it won't show the actual important notifications you care about, from Gmail, Whatsapp or WeChat). Having used LG's version, Huawei's offering is almost offensively basic.
Not enough juice
There's one flaw with the V40: its 3,300 mAh battery. That size was the norm in 2016, and still beats what Apple offers today. But Chinese phones have spoiled us. Huawei has been putting at least 4,000 mAh in its phones for years, and even Samsung jumped on that bandwagon this year.
For my heavy use, the V40 was never able to last an entire day for me. I'd take the phone out at 10 a.m. and the battery icon would turn red (under 10%) by dinner time. This type of battery life was actually normal and expected a couple years ago -- very few Samsung, LG or Apple phones have ever been able to last a full day for me -- but again, Chinese brands have spoiled us. Huawei and Xiaomi phones almost always last me an entire day, so now I'm disappointed when I have to whip out the portable battery pack with hours to go before I head home.
A market that's too crowded, too cut-throat
The V40 was announced at the beginning of what has since been dubbed "Techtober," the most jam-packed month ever for mobile electronics, and as expected, the phone soon got overshadowed by brands with bigger marketing budgets and aggressive spending (Huawei, whose billboards are plastered all over Europe); more cult following (Xiaomi and OnePlus); and the most influence (Apple, whose excellent new iPad Pro is being used to type this review).
This is a shame, because the V40 is a very good all-rounder with only one real flaw (sub-par battery life). Its launch price of $900 was higher than expected, but LG phones tend to go on sale quickly in the U.S. In Hong Kong, the phone can be had for Hong Kong's equivalent of $750. I think at this price, the V40 is a worthy alternative to those tired of Apple and Samsung's pricing and/or draconian software. The V40 is a very adaptable phone, and it's got arguably the best video capabilities to boot.
